College Graduates Continue to Get Jobs

An Ontario college education continues to provide an excellent pathway to success in the workforce, the most recent independently collected provincial data show.

New Key Performance Indicators (KPI) data released today indicated that 88.9 percent of 2007-2008 graduates in the labour force found work within six months of graduating. As well, 93.3 percent of employers were satisfied or very satisfied with the quality of the graduates they hired. "The strong education and training provided at colleges like Fanshawe continues to get high marks," said Bernice Hull, V.P., Planning & Administrative Services at Fanshawe College. "Colleges provide students with the higher education they need to fulfill their career ambitions."

Since 1998, the provincial KPI data have been gathered annually by two independent research firms for the colleges and for the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities. The most recent data were collected from March 2008 to February 2009.

The key findings included:

• 93.3 percent of employers were satisfied with the quality of the educational preparation of college graduates;
  
  
• 82.7 percent of graduates were satisfied with the usefulness of their college education in achieving their goals after graduation.
  
  
• 78.4 percent of students were satisfied with the overall quality of services, programming and resources available to them.

Ms. Hull noted, "We're extremely pleased with Fanshawe's results. Our strategic plan demands that we pursue excellence in learning, teaching and service, and that we encourage and enhance student success. Our KPI results are a reflection of our ongoing success in these areas."

The KPI results are available at www.fanshawec.ca/kpi and www.collegesontario.org.